I am a technology geek. An early adopter. I also work in the outdoors, shooting wildlife photographs. I used to use film cameras, and unfortunately was spending far more money in developing costs than groceries! So I made the early move to digital with a little point n' shoot Olympus. Many times I was so frustrated that the camera was almost thrown overboard. Then came the Nikon D70, a digital SLR. I was hooked. I loved being able to shoot 6 MP shots, 3 frames a second. Being able to preview pics and throw away what I didn't want. But soon my D70 was looking long in the tooth so to speak, so I began researching and prowling around for a new camera. My boss also used to shoot a D70, and had just made the jump over to a Canon D40 as the lenses were cheaper. Me, I'm a pretty loyal guy, so I gave the D300 a hard look.I looked at many websites and forums that compared the top DSLRs. And I kept coming back to the D300. Even Macworld gave it their recommendation, so I went online and bought a package that included a D300, a 70-300 VR lens, a 2GB card and shipping for 1999.99. The camera arrived, and here are a few observations after only a few days use:
1. This is a heavy camera. Very solid. Heavier than my D70, but the weight is balanced feeling.
2. SPEED!!! Wow! I am using a Lexar 2GB 300x card, and when I hit burst rate the other day, I shot nearly 13 frames in about 2-3 seconds.
3. LCD display is incredible! At 3" in size, it really enables you to get a good feel for how the camera is operating. Live View is a new feature for when you are using a tripod or having to hold the camera at strange angles---it seems to really work well.
4. In camera processing---some features that I used to wait to process in Photoshop I can do in the camera now (red-eye reduction, etc.) Very helpful.
Now for the things I don't like (which is a very short list at this point):
1. Getting CF cards that really take advantage of the camera's lightning speed are expensive!
2. Lenses for this camera are expensive!
3. Owner's manual leaves something to be desired in explaining how to use the camera.
I am an intermediate user, and so I feel a bit lost trying to figure out all the options of this camera and how to best utilize them. But fortunately for you and me, there are lots of books, websites, etc, to help you take this Ferrari and use it to its' fullest extent! If I had to choose a camera again, I would DEFINITELY buy the Nikon D300 again.
First, I am absolutely enthralled. This is an absolutely fabulous equipment combination. There seem to be few settings, options, or configurations that I could have dreamed of that would have made me happier. Things I love:
The 18-200 VR lens; I have taken pics at 1/30 of a second at full 200mm zoom that I wouldn't have thought possible. It really does prevent most motion blur. Besides the actual camera this was the best part of my purchase. I rarely miss a shot for need of changing lenses, my former lenses being an 18-55 and a 55-200. With the flexibility of the camera itself and my second lens being a faster 30mm f1.4 this is pure photography fun for me. I know that some pros have dissed this lens as being less than pro, with distortion at certain extremes and some blur in the midrange 135mm. For the photography I do this is not important. When I do notice some distortion it's not important and I have not seen any blur, though I may not be looking close enough.
Auto-ISO: Still playing with this feature but the cool thing is that you can set it the minimum shutter speed you want and it will step up the ISO to keep that speed when needed. 1/30 seems a good speed with the VR lens, though there is sometimes subject motion blur (not camera motion blur), but this is also fun to play with. It can always be bumped up to 1/60 or more.
External controls: Most of the commonly-changed options are at your fingertips which means you don't need to visit the menus as often. I have a friend with a D40x and most of the options are in menus and my D50 has some on external buttons. The D300 seems to have a good balance. You very clearly could not have put all the menu items on external buttons on this camera!
Speaking of menus; I have a great fondness for the help feature available on this and on my D50. Not sure of other maker's cameras but if you don't know or don't remember a feature the help button will nudge you.
The customizable individual lens focus adjustment feature is the cat's meow. My aforementioned Sigma 30mm lens has never focused properly and I was able to quickly adjust this in-camera. Henceforth, all my pictures taken with the Sigma lens will at least be properly focused!
OK, one of my favorite features; the intervalometer. Ooooo, Ahhhh. It can be used by itself or with multi-exposure. By itself you can set it up to take pictures at whatever interval you like. This can be great fun. I set it up on a tripod at our reunion to take a picture every minute while we were playing cards, even catching my brother with Easter eggs over his eyes. This almost makes up for the lack of an infrared remote capability, though I guess they could not have included everything and to be fair, it is available with external added equipment. Multi-exposure is also pretty cool. More stuff to play with.
Some observations; if you have an event coming up get the camera early and play with it. I was still figuring out the settings when I went to a family reunion and took 1500 pictures. Many of those were multi-shots of the same subject so I dumped the extras and ended up with around 500 good pictures. I took some group pictures and some were blurry because I misunderstood a feature or two.
I take a lot of profile pictures and the only way to properly focus on these is to spot focus on the nose or eye. I would have liked a feature that recognizes a profile and focuses properly without changing settings. I guess that is asking a lot! Maybe in the next generation.
The weight of the device is off-putting for some, though not for me. I have big hands and the camera fills them nicely and the "balance," the way it feels in one's hands when it is turned different directions, feels just right to me, similar to the way a well-balanced 18v cordless drill feels. Though heavy, the weight is evenly distributed and it can be turned and manipulated without strain, at least not for me.
The battery life for me has been less than the 1000 pictures others have been getting. More like 500 or a little more. I'm not sure if this is because of the VR lens because I have not used my Sigma much yet. 500 is still a lot and I am not unhappy with this.
The only other "issue" if you can call it that is the front aperture dial; My finger sticks to the rubber around it which makes it more difficult to turn it. Just a nit-pic (pun intended) and something I will get used to.
Overall, I can truthfully say I love it. It doesn't get much better than this!
JCFThis is a fantastic camera. I upgraded from a D80, which I was happy with, but this camera is in a completely different class. Handling is excellent, build quality superb and colours are fantastic. The Active D-Lighting is a great feature, and the high ISO performance is unbelievable.This is one heck of a camera. I have had Nikons (F5, F, 8008, F4), Canons (Rebel), Leica (M3, IIIc), and Hasselblad (500 CM) and I think this is the best I've had in terms of feel, features, and picture quality. I'm slowly putting it through its paces and find the camera to be responsive and easy to use. I thought that I would be intimidated by the controls, but am picking things up pretty quickly. It's getting me back into photography and makes it all fun again!Hi all... I'm an enthusiast photographer from Sri Lanka. I got my D300 about a month back from amazon through a friend in USA. It's my 1st DSLR and I'm completely blown away by it and the photos it takes. Almost everything about this camera is nothing short of amazing.
There's only one downside worth mentioning and it's the Live View. Once you turn the shooting mode dial to LV, nothing appears on the screen. You have to press the shutter release once to lift the mirror and have the view on the LCD. But after taking the picture it goes blank again and you have to press shutter release to get the view back. This is an inconvenient and time consuming process. And I think Nikon have been a bit ignorant in this aspect. But this doesn't put me off at all because live view is something that I use very rarely.
I won't talk about any of the plus points of this cam because I want to keep this review short. Let me just say that everything other than live view is nothing short of brilliant.
About the 18-200 mm VR lens: In my opinion, this is the best kit lens out there. The quality it delivers is exceptional for a super-zoom and also for a kit lens. Unless you do macro or extreme telephoto work this is just about the only lens you need.
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